Terminal

The Aesteria Chronicles

They're part of the plot- for a very short amount of time. Until I say otherwise these mooks have plot armor Or I mean, most of them are mooks, the blonde one who talks is a bit less of a mook.

@vietmyke

I am sure everyone will be quite fastidious and meticulous in their avoidance of explicitly describing anything that happens to their actual bodies/personages, even as the very air around them spontaneously combusts. >.>

The Heavens Aflame - A Civil War Among Deities

Notice: Directly below is the original profile for Dihira, devised before the OOC was established. It possesses different formatting and possess a different sort of information on the Goddess of Knowledge than is seen in her official profile, located in the second hider below. The only common feature between them are the sections describing her personality, which was directly copied over from one to the other.

~Conspiracy is such a...treacherous notion. What did you expect would happen?~

Dihira

Dihira, Original Profile (Supplemental)

Divine Portfolio

Mistress of the House of Books: As keeper and Librarian of the House of Books, Dihira possesses an intrinsic knowledge of exactly where in the library a tome is located, how to find it, and how to read it. Due to the internal workings of the domain (see the section on The House of Books), this power is in and of itself, invaluable. Wellsprung Knowledge: While Dihira is not all-knowing, she nonetheless has unrestricted access to all knowledge. Anything she does not know, she can learn in short order, including incredibly specific and arbitrary things such as 'What were they thinking on Thursday?' If one had a plan they do not wish for her to know of, the only way to prevent her learning of it is to ensure she has no suspicion of a plan even existing. Any mention of a plan to her, with sufficient pertinent details (whose plan it is, for example), would enable her to uncover a complete discourse on the plan with a preamble by some venerable scholar and an accompanying critique by a wise philosopher, along with illustrations and illuminations on the more picturesque moments and even with accompanying iconography. Thankfully, she is not often known for intruding in the affairs of others and possesses no powers of divination or mental persuasion save for those used to govern the House of Books. This was the primary reason why her inclusion in the plot of the Downfall of Aroesus was pivotal - to risk leaving her out of the plan would have risked all the gods learning of it. Serpentine: Dihira is the Mother of all Serpents. This does not allude to mere Snakes and Reptiles in the Mortal Realm, as these are but pale reflections of the creatures known as Serpents. Dihira is the Mother of Alluring Temptation, Mother of Dragons and Wyverns, Mother of Stone-Eyed Basilisks, and paradoxically and retroactively Mother of the Eternal Serpent Ouroboros (who was technically created by Svanus). Her Servitors are the Feathered Serpents, Snakelike creatures with stunning arrays of plummage, as well as numerous hands and feet. They are most well known for patrolling the House of Books and for acting as Muses in the mortal world, moving unseen in the midst of the world with their Epiphianic Bows, inspiring great wisdom and great insanity in the minds of men.

The House of Books

Dihira is the ruler of the dominion of the House of Books, an endless, sprawling labyrinthine library filled with every form of knowledge. Everything that is, was, will be, is not, cannot, was not, possible, impossible, dreamt, glimpsed, forgotten, seen, unseen, learnt, thought... All and more reside within the shelves of the House of Books, whose rows and paths are infinite, twisting in upon themselves in great roiling coils, which form the body of the Eternal Serpent, Ouroboros, whose body the House is built within. Dihira retains dominion over the House and Ouroboros by right of Providence; she inherited control directly from her father Svanus upon birth as goddess of Knowledge. Its rule is tied intrinsically to her being and thus, short of destroying Ouroboros, cannot be undone. Dihira is not intrinsically possessing of the infinitely infinitely infinite knowledge held within her own library, as she is foremost a Librarian, the aspect of the knowledge itself foreign to her being until she has consumed it directly. However, as the Librarian, Dihira knows precisely where every book is in the Library, and how to reach it, and how to read it - vital necessities, as it is possible to become lost for all eternity just by hanging around in the foyer for too long, and not all of the tomes are tomes in the normal sense of the word. To enter the Library and find a specific piece of knowledge without her aid is impossible, as mortal wanderers and gods alike who enter seeking something specific will be eternally cursed to anecdotal discoveries. Only by entreating Dihira, or else by offering the Serpent Ouroboros a Rat King to eat, may an individual find what they are looking for. To offer a Rat King to Ouroboros is in itself no simple thing, but to peruse the Library without Dihira's knowing of it is a risky proposition at best. The library's rows and reaches are infinitely infinitely infinite in their depths, and the long corridors are as much passageways into other universes and planes as they are repositories of knowledge. Dark, twisted, coiling eldritch forms that unravel form like errant smoke await the unwary, as well as expelling paths that shunt the victim into alien worlds, never to return, and always the fabled Feathered servitors of the Mistress herself constantly patrol. If Dihira were to become aware of the presence of an intruder, she could command Ouroboros to swallow them whole. For gods, such obstacles are merely difficult to overcome. For mortals, they are nigh-insurmountable. There are many tales of fabled Heroic mortals who were forced to enter the Library at great personal peril in search of forbidden knowledge. In one fable, the Heroine Ariadne bested Dihira in a game of riddles, gaining her permission to browse freely. The Hero Fulmen permitted himself to be pierced through the neck by an Arrow of Empyrean Light shot from the legendary Veracious Bow, and thus carried directly through the library to the specific tome he sought. Dihira was so impressed by his sheer gall that she healed his injury and permitted him to leave unmolested. Because 'unmolested' is far and away apart from the meaning of 'unaffected,' this still resulted in Fulmen wandering the library for decades trying to find his way back out, and there exists a chronicle of his travels in the House of Books in the form of a Poetic Eda which, rather than being conceived of by any mortal, was paradoxically retrieved from the Library itself by Fulmen just before he left for good. There are many entrances and pathways that lead into the House of Books. The traditional entrance is to pass through the maw of the Eternal Serpent Ouroboros, whose head is lain at the summit of the realm of gods as a final obstacle to Mortals who would attempt to attain Apotheosis. The serpent itself is tasked to attempt to lure the unwary within using only verbally spoken words (the Feathered Servitors with the Spoken Swords were by admission, a bit much). However, any library in the mortal realm may possess, by chance or grace, a row that connects with one found within the depths of the House itself. In addition, any mortal who becomes truly, hopelessly lost may perform the Serpentine ritual; with success twisting the surrounding environs into a pathway into the Library, and failure resulting in the mortal being transformed into a Feathered Servitor.

Role in the Downfall of Aroesus

Dihira provided the insidious toxin that was used to taint the body of Lyrikes and ultimately weaken Aroesus sufficiently for the other gods to upbraid him. The poison was drawn from the Fractal Fangs of the Serpent Ouroboros in the House of Books, and weakened Aroesus by inducing a form of existential anguish known as Motem, amplifying the self-annihilating facets of Aroesus' psyche and forcing his very essence to erode under its own power.

Description

Dihira's predominant drive is the maintenance of her library - as she was born a Librarian. She has little ambition beyond eternally tending to her own domain within the House of Books, and so is not a serious contender for the throne of Aroesus. However, she also believes in a rather embarrassingly extreme level of freedom of information. For every single sordid tale of some god bestowing cruel and unusual curses upon mortals or else cheating on their mate or that one time their testicles created the foam in the sea (long story), half of them were 'leaked' into the mortal world by way of mythological accounts 'inspired' in Mortal scholars through Dihira's Feathered Servitors. Dihira is relentless and merciless in her pursuit of creating accurate historical accounts of Divine politics and then disseminating them throughout the mortal world, which often has profound consequences. In the immediate wake of Aroesus' death, she immediately moved to inscribe the event in Human mythos, and thus every mortal worshiper became aware of the exact roles and places of every god involved during the event. She has no problems even with hanging her own dirty laundry out for everyone to see (she was the on-and-off lover of Fulmen during the many decades he spent lost in the House of Books, and made no effort to hide the fact that she provided the poison used to weaken Aroesus in her various anthologies). The worst of this is seen when she uncovers hidden knowledge of affairs which have been kept secret, which she will then abruptly expose to essentially every living entity in the world, as well as all the gods. Dihira can also be just as cruel and haughty as the other gods when it comes to governing her domain and Portfolio. She has little tolerance for the destruction of knowledge of profaning repositories for it, and has cursed many mortals for banning, censoring, or burning books, as well as authors she deemed insufficiently productive and terrible poets. Many a conqueror has razed a city to the ground, only to go to great care to leave the central library untouched for fear of invoking her wrath. As a librarian, she is a stickler for proper decorum - hushed voices, or forever you will be forced to hiss with a snake's tongue. No fire, least you be burned by the knowledge kindled. No dirtying or damaging the pages or covers of books, least you would have gossip and rumors spread of you. Bad poets are SHOT with BURNING, POISONED ARROWS (and she seems rather quick to judge based on whether your iambic pentameter is structured correctly). She is also rather personally petty - although she does not mind when scholars write of her various misdeeds and failings, she is quick to chastise them if they dare actually criticize her actions or judge her.

Fatal Flaws

Presumption of Genius: Dihira has consumed so much knowledge over the ages that she always asserts herself as the smartest and wisest Deity in the Heavens, and it goes without saying that Mortals are beneath even her contempt. She is so utterly convinced of her infallibility, that the notion has suffused with her psyche. Proving her wrong, even in a trivial matter or affair, would literally shatter every fiber of her being and fling each piece into the deepest recesses of the Library from the sheer blow to her ego - this would not be fatal, but it would preoccupy her with reassembling her broken form for quite some time. Purple Prose Prone: Dihira has a great weakness for literary theory, historical monograms, and philosophical texts. Many times, she has been distracted by a wise mortal speaking with her at length of such things while their adventurous companion would sneak into the stacks in search of arcane texts and lore. It hardly even matters how pretentious or ephemeral the subject in question is, so long as Dihira can be successfully engaged in conversation. Dihira can become so caught-up in such discussions that she can even become sexually infatuated with her conversation partner, if they are successful enough, which can lead to prolonged periods of absence in her oversight of the House of Books. No Sense of Propriety: Dihira does not care how sensitive or damaging a particular account of Divine actions might be - she /will/ see it produced in the mortal realm, even if doing so is incredibly inadvisable, for herself and others. The best she can be convinced to restrain herself is to momentarily withhold her accounts until a specific moment of time (the downfall of Aroesus for example), but more often she is the epitome of the Divine rumor mill. Ingeniously Untalented: Despite having access to limitless knowledge, Dihira is terrible at practicing any arts she may learn of. She might know every theory and nuance of blacksmithing, but were she actually to take to the hammer and anvil, she would be lucky if she could even produce a bent nail. The same is true of other disciplines, and thus, she often requires assistance from other gods in order to act on any of her knowledge.

Dihira, Official Profile

Name/Titles: The Dark Librarian, Serpent of Knowledge, Mistress of the House of Books, Mother of Serpents, Daughter and Mother of Svanus. Sex/Gender: Appearing in a feminine form the majority of the time, Dihira firmly self-identifies as female. Pantheon Deity Patronage:

Dihira is the goddess of Knowledge, learning, scholarship, scripture, and literature - encompassing the notion of recording and transmitting information. She is also the goddess of snakes, serpents, and consumption. Being described as 'draconic' describes a general, gluttonous desire for food, wealth, power, or even knowledge itself, because of the association to Dihira. It is often employed as a backhanded compliment.

Appearance

Image credit: http://yaichino.deviantart.com/art/Naga-138780464

Parentage:

Dihira's father is Svanus, creator of humanity and who is also paradoxically and retroactively her son. He is dead, struck down by Aroesus in a fit of rage. Her mother is Mysia, who was the sister and wife of Svanus, and is the current dowager queen of the gods.

Places of Power:

Libraries, classrooms, and snake dens are the altars of Dihira. Merely to learn, teach, write, or read is sufficient worship for her purposes. Exceedingly old, large, or prominent libraries may sometimes possess permanent passageways leading into the House of Books.

Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:

Dihira is worshiped by teachers, scholars, philosophers, students, snake charmers, mages, and alchemists. Reasons for worshiping her might be in hopes for a visit from a Feather Servitor which may bestow inspiration and wisdom by shooting the individual, unseen, with its Epiphianc bow. Other times she might be worshiped in order to assist in the comprehension of esoteric knowledge which is already known, but not fully understood. Her favor is said to ward off Basilisks, or to result in desert vipers draining venom with their bites rather than injecting it. Dragons are said to spare scholars who might prove their knowledge. Those skilled in the ways of the arcane might worship her both for knowledge and for the chance to gain the favor of one of her Feathered Servitors, whose scales, feathers, teeth, nails, and eyes are extraordinarily potent alchemical ingredients. Poets worship her IF THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM.

Description

Dihira's predominant drive is the maintenance of her library - as she was born a Librarian. She has little ambition beyond eternally tending to her own domain within the House of Books, and so is not a serious contender for the throne of Aroesus. However, she also believes in a rather embarrassingly extreme level of freedom of information. For every single sordid tale of some god bestowing cruel and unusual curses upon mortals or else cheating on their mate or that one time their testicles created the foam in the sea (long story), half of them were 'leaked' into the mortal world by way of mythological accounts 'inspired' in Mortal scholars through Dihira's Feathered Servitors. Dihira is relentless and merciless in her pursuit of creating accurate historical accounts of Divine politics and then disseminating them throughout the mortal world, which often has profound consequences. In the immediate wake of Aroesus' death, she immediately moved to inscribe the event in Human mythos, and thus every mortal worshiper became aware of the exact roles and places of every god involved during the event. She has no problems even with hanging her own dirty laundry out for everyone to see (she was the on-and-off lover of Fulmen during the many decades he spent lost in the House of Books, and made no effort to hide the fact that she provided the poison used to weaken Aroesus in her various anthologies). The worst of this is seen when she uncovers hidden knowledge of affairs which have been kept secret, which she will then abruptly expose to essentially every living entity in the world, as well as all the gods. Dihira can also be just as cruel and haughty as the other gods when it comes to governing her domain and Portfolio. She has little tolerance for the destruction of knowledge of profaning repositories for it, and has cursed many mortals for banning, censoring, or burning books, as well as authors she deemed insufficiently productive and terrible poets. Many a conqueror has razed a city to the ground, only to go to great care to leave the central library untouched for fear of invoking her wrath. As a librarian, she is a stickler for proper decorum - hushed voices, or forever you will be forced to hiss with a snake's tongue. No fire, least you be burned by the knowledge kindled. No dirtying or damaging the pages or covers of books, least you would have gossip and rumors spread of you. Bad poets are SHOT with BURNING, POISONED ARROWS (and she seems rather quick to judge based on whether your iambic pentameter is structured correctly). She is also rather personally petty - although she does not mind when scholars write of her various misdeeds and failings, she is quick to chastise them if they dare actually criticize her actions or judge her.

History

Notice: The history is subject to change pending discussion with other posters. Dihira's childhood was a confusing one. Chronologically she was created by Svanus before the downfall of Ventu, but paradoxically and retroactively became his mother due to her status as the Mother of Serpents. She also inherited the House of Books inside Ouroboros at the moment of her birth, despite the fact that Ouroboros could not have existed until after Aroesus struck down Svanus after the downfall of Ventu, his corpse being shed as a molt by the eternal serpent Ouroboros and becoming the frame for the House of Books. Most of the gods do not recall much of her during this period, and it is a common notion that the natant essence of her divine form was still being shaped even after birth, not settling until after Svanus had died, retroactively altering the fabric of the world in the process. Dihira, possessing no lost affection for Aroesus after he had slain her father and son Svanus, inspired mortal accounts and tales of his maddened acts as king of the gods whenever possible. However, out of fear of Aroesus casting her out of her library and down into Sharzunates, she regularly did his bidding in searching through her library for evidence of treachery and misbehavior on the parts of the other gods. While it cannot be said with certainty that her discoveries alone led to the castigation of any of the gods Aroesus cast down, she did nonetheless abet the mad god's whims to a great degree, especially during the ascension of Lyrikes. Although many of the gods were angered with Dihira for her casual outing of their private affairs and for assisting Aroesus in his lunacy, it was agreed that with her constantly looking out for signs of treachery, Aroesus could not be deposed - she therefore had to be struck down or else reasoned with. As destroying her would have alerted Aroesus to their conspiracy, they convinced her - with little effort, as she harbored deep resentment for Aroesus due to his murder of Svanus - to join her conspiracy. Her contribution to the plot was the poison used to taint the body of Lyrikes, which was milked from the fangs of Ouroboros.

Relationships

Aroesus: In addition to immediately inspiring the account of Aroesus' downfall in the mortal realm, she also inspired the creation of a new holiday specifically celebrating his death. Needless to say, she was rather pleased with the outcome of the rebellion. Mysia: Dihira harbors a thinly tempered apathy for her mother, disgusted at how Mysia could so callously disregard the death of Svanus at Aroesus' hands. They are estranged and have not spoken since Dihira was born, and the Dark Librarian is perhaps more eager than is strictly necessary for any news or rumors of aberrant behavior from the Queen of the gods that might be used to weaken her influence in the mortal realm. Sileon: Dihira harbors some resentment for Sileon for, in her eyes, his complicity in the death of Svanus - however, she views him more as the weakest, youngest son of Ventu, and so does not hold him as fully responsible for his own actions. Sharva: There exists a faint conflict in the divine portfolios of the Goddess of Knowledge and the God of the Moon, as mages and alchemists have fair reason to worship both. Not being overtly ambitious or seeking dominion over spellcraft (which, just like everything else, is only incidentally entwined with her dominion over knowledge), she views him with some favor, valuing his mental fortitude and wisdom. She has been known to permit his followers free access to her Library if they can provide cursory proof of their cleverness. Paichnidi: Dihira is at least partially responsible for the uncovering of the conspiracy of Proditus, seeking signs of treachery within the Pantheon out of fear that Aroesus would cast her down otherwise due to her many written accounts, tales, and myths regarding his madness and antics during his reign of king. Ultimately the evidence she provided was merely one of the many spears that Aroesus used to obliterate Proditus, and she had no involvement in the exile of Paichnidi personally. Now that Aroesus has fallen, she is somewhat wary in awaiting his inevitable reascension to Krona much the same as she is wary of all those returning from Sharzunates, whom she helped in part to cast down, although he is currently only at the peripheral of her awareness. Lucretius: Lucretius is the current, Mortal lover of Dihira. He is widely regarding as the most learned natural philosopher in all of Lymaeus and is of some renown. A pious man, he has written a number of poetic edas describing the nature of the Mortal realm and correlating it with the illuminated histories of the Divine realm, as revealed to him by Dihira.

The Aesteria Chronicles

Evidently not. Can I kill these guys or are we going for not-immediately-lethal take downs?

@Lucius Cypher

Kuro, at least, is going to refrain from using his grenades since using explosives in a confined space full of nominal allies is generally frowned upon. Otherwise, he is aiming to murder them in the quickest and most efficient way possible. If any /happen/ to be alive afterwards, they can go on their way* after answering* a few* questions*. Mining golem or not, I'd keep out of the crossfire killbox. The space they occupy is very shortly going to be filled with bullets, heavy fog, bullets, lightning, bullets, fireballs, bullets, eldritch flux, bullets, throwing knives, bullets, arrows, and bullets. It will not be the friendliest or most conducive of environments for a pugilist.

The Heavens Aflame - A Civil War Among Deities

Requested Role: Dihira, the Dark Librarian, the Serpent of Knowledge, Mistress of the House of Books, Mother of Serpents. A daughter of Svanus and heir to his knowledge.

HeySeuss

~Conspiracy is such a...treacherous notion. What did you expect would happen?~

Dihira

Dihira, Dark Librarian

Divine Portfolio

Mistress of the House of Books: As keeper and Librarian of the House of Books, Dihira possesses an intrinsic knowledge of exactly where in the library a tome is located, how to find it, and how to read it. Due to the internal workings of the domain (see the section on The House of Books), this power is in and of itself, invaluable. Wellsprung Knowledge: While Dihira is not all-knowing, she nonetheless has unrestricted access to all knowledge. Anything she does not know, she can learn in short order, including incredibly specific and arbitrary things such as 'What were they thinking on Thursday?' If one had a plan they do not wish for her to know of, the only way to prevent her learning of it is to ensure she has no suspicion of a plan even existing. Any mention of a plan to her, with sufficient pertinent details (whose plan it is, for example), would enable her to uncover a complete discourse on the plan with a preamble by some venerable scholar and an accompanying critique by a wise philosopher, along with illustrations and illuminations on the more picturesque moments and even with accompanying iconography. Thankfully, she is not often known for intruding in the affairs of others and possesses no powers of divination or mental persuasion save for those used to govern the House of Books. This was the primary reason why her inclusion in the plot of the Downfall of Aroesus was pivotal - to risk leaving her out of the plan would have risked all the gods learning of it. Serpentine: Dihira is the Mother of all Serpents. This does not allude to mere Snakes and Reptiles in the Mortal Realm, as these are but pale reflections of the creatures known as Serpents. Dihira is the Mother of Alluring Temptation, Mother of Dragons and Wyverns, Mother of Stone-Eyed Basilisks, and paradoxically and retroactively Mother of the Eternal Serpent Ouroboros (who was technically created by Svanus). Her Servitors are the Feathered Serpents, Snakelike creatures with stunning arrays of plummage, as well as numerous hands and feet. They are most well known for patrolling the House of Books and for acting as Muses in the mortal world, moving unseen in the midst of the world with their Epiphianic Bows, inspiring great wisdom and great insanity in the minds of men.

The House of Books

Dihira is the ruler of the dominion of the House of Books, an endless, sprawling labyrinthine library filled with every form of knowledge. Everything that is, was, will be, is not, cannot, was not, possible, impossible, dreamt, glimpsed, forgotten, seen, unseen, learnt, thought... All and more reside within the shelves of the House of Books, whose rows and paths are infinite, twisting in upon themselves in great roiling coils, which form the body of the Eternal Serpent, Ouroboros, whose body the House is built within. Dihira retains dominion over the House and Ouroboros by right of Providence; she inherited control directly from her father Svanus upon birth as goddess of Knowledge. Its rule is tied intrinsically to her being and thus, short of destroying Ouroboros, cannot be undone. Dihira is not intrinsically possessing of the infinitely infinitely infinite knowledge held within her own library, as she is foremost a Librarian, the aspect of the knowledge itself foreign to her being until she has consumed it directly. However, as the Librarian, Dihira knows precisely where every book is in the Library, and how to reach it, and how to read it - vital necessities, as it is possible to become lost for all eternity just by hanging around in the foyer for too long, and not all of the tomes are tomes in the normal sense of the word. To enter the Library and find a specific piece of knowledge without her aid is impossible, as mortal wanderers and gods alike who enter seeking something specific will be eternally cursed to anecdotal discoveries. Only by entreating Dihira, or else by offering the Serpent Ouroboros a Rat King to eat, may an individual find what they are looking for. To offer a Rat King to Ouroboros is in itself no simple thing, but to peruse the Library without Dihira's knowing of it is a risky proposition at best. The library's rows and reaches are infinitely infinitely infinite in their depths, and the long corridors are as much passageways into other universes and planes as they are repositories of knowledge. Dark, twisted, coiling eldritch forms that unravel form like errant smoke await the unwary, as well as expelling paths that shunt the victim into alien worlds, never to return, and always the fabled Feathered servitors of the Mistress herself constantly patrol. If Dihira were to become aware of the presence of an intruder, she could command Ouroboros to swallow them whole. For gods, such obstacles are merely difficult to overcome. For mortals, they are nigh-insurmountable. There are many tales of fabled Heroic mortals who were forced to enter the Library at great personal peril in search of forbidden knowledge. In one fable, the Heroine Ariadne bested Dihira in a game of riddles, gaining her permission to browse freely. The Hero Fulmen permitted himself to be pierced through the neck by an Arrow of Empyrean Light shot from the legendary Veracious Bow, and thus carried directly through the library to the specific tome he sought. Dihira was so impressed by his sheer gall that she healed his injury and permitted him to leave unmolested. Because 'unmolested' is far and away apart from the meaning of 'unaffected,' this still resulted in Fulmen wandering the library for decades trying to find his way back out, and there exists a chronicle of his travels in the House of Books in the form of a Poetic Eda which, rather than being conceived of by any mortal, was paradoxically retrieved from the Library itself by Fulmen just before he left for good. There are many entrances and pathways that lead into the House of Books. The traditional entrance is to pass through the maw of the Eternal Serpent Ouroboros, whose head is lain at the summit of the realm of gods as a final obstacle to Mortals who would attempt to attain Apotheosis. The serpent itself is tasked to attempt to lure the unwary within using only verbally spoken words (the Feathered Servitors with the Spoken Swords were by admission, a bit much). However, any library in the mortal realm may possess, by chance or grace, a row that connects with one found within the depths of the House itself. In addition, any mortal who becomes truly, hopelessly lost may perform the Serpentine ritual; with success twisting the surrounding environs into a pathway into the Library, and failure resulting in the mortal being transformed into a Feathered Servitor.

Role in the Downfall of Aroesus

Dihira provided the insidious toxin that was used to taint the body of Lyrikes and ultimately weaken Aroesus sufficiently for the other gods to upbraid him. The poison was drawn from the Fractal Fangs of the Serpent Ouroboros in the House of Books, and weakened Aroesus by inducing a form of existential anguish known as Motem, amplifying the self-annihilating facets of Aroesus' psyche and forcing his very essence to erode under its own power.

Description

Dihira's predominant drive is the maintenance of her library - as she was born a Librarian. She has little ambition beyond eternally tending to her own domain within the House of Books, and so is not a serious contender for the throne of Aroesus. However, she also believes in a rather embarrassingly extreme level of freedom of information. For every single sordid tale of some god bestowing cruel and unusual curses upon mortals or else cheating on their mate or that one time their testicles created the foam in the sea (long story), half of them were 'leaked' into the mortal world by way of mythological accounts 'inspired' in Mortal scholars through Dihira's Feathered Servitors. Dihira is relentless and mericless in her pursuit of creating accurate historical accounts of Divine politics and then disseminating them throughout the mortal world, which often has profound consequences. In the immediate wake of Aroesus' death, she immediately moved to inscribe the event in Human mythos, and thus every mortal worshiper became aware of the exact roles and places of every god involved during the event. She has no problems even with hanging her own dirty laundry out for everyone to see (she was the on-and-off lover of Fulmen during the many decades he spent lost in the House of Books, and made no effort to hide the fact that she provided the poison used to weaken Aroesus in her various anthologies). The worst of this is seen when she uncovers hidden knowledge of affairs which have been kept secret, which she will then abruptly expose to essentially every living entity in the world, as well as all the gods. Dihira can also be just as cruel and haughty as the other gods when it comes to governing her domain and Portfolio. She has little tolerance for the destruction of knowledge of profaning repositories for it, and has cursed many mortals for banning, censoring, or burning books, as well as authors she deemed insufficiently productive and terrible poets. Many a conqueror has razed a city to the ground, only to go to great care to leave the central library untouched for fear of invoking her wrath. As a librarian, she is a stickler for proper decorum - hushed voices, or forever you will be forced to hiss with a snake's tongue. No fire, least you be burned by the knowledge kindled. No dirtying or damaging the pages or covers of books, least you would have gossip and rumors spread of you. Bad poets are SHOT with BURNING, POISONED ARROWS (and she seems rather quick to judge based on whether your iambic pentameter is structured correctly). She is also rather personally petty - although she does not mind when scholars write of her various misdeeds and failings, she is quick to chastise them if they dare actually criticize her actions or judge her.

Fatal Flaws

Presumption of Genius: Dihira has consumed so much knowledge over the ages that she always asserts herself as the smartest and wisest Deity in the Heavens, and it goes without saying that Mortals are beneath even her contempt. She is so utterly convinced of her infallibility, that the notion has suffused with her psyche. Proving her wrong, even in a trivial matter or affair, would literally shatter every fiber of her being and fling each piece into the deepest recesses of the Library from the sheer blow to her ego - this would not be fatal, but it would preoccupy her with reassembling her broken form for quite some time. Purple Prose Prone: Dihira has a great weakness for literary theory, historical monograms, and philosophical texts. Many times, she has been distracted by a wise mortal speaking with her at length of such things while their adventurous companion would sneak into the stacks in search of arcane texts and lore. It hardly even matters how pretentious or ephemeral the subject in question is, so long as Dihira can be successfully engaged in conversation. Dihira can become so caught-up in such discussions that she can even become sexually infatuated with her conversation partner, if they are successful enough, which can lead to prolonged periods of absence in her oversight of the House of Books. No Sense of Propriety: Dihira does not care how sensitive or damaging a particular account of Divine actions might be - she /will/ see it produced in the mortal realm, even if doing so is incredibly inadvisable, for herself and others. The best she can be convinced to restrain herself is to momentarily withhold her accounts until a specific moment of time (the downfall of Aroesus for example), but more often she is the epitome of the Divine rumor mill. Ingeniously Untalented: Despite having access to limitless knowledge, Dihira is terrible at practicing any arts she may learn of. She might know every theory and nuance of blacksmithing, but were she actually to take to the hammer and anvil, she would be lucky if she could even produce a bent nail. The same is true of other disciplines, and thus, she often requires assistance from other gods in order to act on any of her knowledge.

The Heavens Aflame - A Civil War Among Deities

I see the need for a "knowledge" god, but what would your stance be on an ancient, primordial "secrets" or "mystery" god?

@Dead Cruiser

I won't stop you from making one, but be aware that if you make a God along those lines their portfolio will be at least in partial conflict with Dihira (whose profile should be up within the hour). As HeySeuss indicated, it should be quite the battle.

Each player will come up with a deity that has a portfolio, though there can be some portfolio overlap between gods (a source of great conflict)

HeySeuss

The Heavens Aflame - A Civil War Among Deities

I'll take the role of Dihira if you don't mind - I had been planning on making a God of Knowledge in any case. I'll get to work on a more developed profile.

The Aesteria Chronicles

@ Myke, after your post, I'll have Helen get up and make her way to the Serpentine shortly. Both to sear his wound close then bandage it and check on the twins. Originally Sira was called out to prevent any injury (in essence blinding them both) but since Rtron already posted it and I decided it wasn't that big, I told him not to change it. Her bag will likely be behind the counter so can I have the bartender give it to her?

@Fallenreaper

Kuro /was/ wondering about that. :P

The Aesteria Chronicles

Kuro sat at his table in the corner again, taking momentary note of the unconscious Serpentine lying on the floor besides Eli's seat. He paused mid-stride, looking from the woman whom he recalled by sight if not by name as one of the guild's doctor, just idly sitting there at her seat in plain view of the fallen man, not lifting a finger to check on him and the sword-puncture through his leg. Even more surprising was the sight of the other two Serpentines - Cedric Drake was still coolly mulling over his glass, apparently unconcerned for his comrade. His crony appeared to be angry at least, but was keeping his peace. The bartender didn't even seem to care about the blood splattered all over the lower end of the bar and the floor. It wasn't the most bizarre sight Kuro had seen,

Hey boss, those guards that were chasin' us just got crushed, dirt-nap crushed, by a mountain of watermelons that fell out of the sky! Ain't no airships or anything I can see tha coulda sent 'em nearby.

Highwayman

...but it was nonetheless disconcerting. After a brief moment Kuro shrugged and sat down at his table in the corner. He figured, if nothing else, the unconscious and bleeding yuppie on the floor added some character to the bar's aesthetic. Before he could even settle back into his seat properly, two children quietly barged in and greased the barman's palm, which was interesting enough on its own - Kuro though, had much sharper vision than most of the others in the bar, and as the girl crossed the room he caught sight of a particular detail of her person - something he had never seen before. His eyes immediately shot to the boy to see if he had the same feature, but if he did, it was well concealed. Either way, this was what Kuro had been waiting for - the coin Tribal had promised had just come in. Even just by being in the same room as them, Kuro could sell the information on what he had seen of the girl at least to the pursers back at Rider HQ for a favorable sum. Perhaps even more if he could get a closer look at the boy before he left... Kuro was about to stand to try and get a closer look when the four thugs walked in. Kuro gave them the same discriminating eye he had given Ryza - two sweeping glances from head to foot for each of them. Immediately he knew - they weren't with the Riders or the Guild. They weren't unaffiliated assassins or cleaners either, and he seriously doubted they were from the Church of Aer. They were acting nonchalant enough, but any imbecile with eyes could have told why they were there. Kuro's gut abruptly turned into a yawning abyss, and the hairs on the back of his neck stiffened. Over the many years, he had honed a sense for unseen, imminent danger - and it was here in the bar. Something massive, gigantic, greater than any threat he had even felt before, eclipsing even Tribal with its gravity. Kuro's eyes darted around the room - everyone was tense and eyeing the thugs, most of them Guild regulars with anywhere up to thirty spirits between them all and every manner of blade, pistol, explosive, and magic ready to be levied at any second. The room was a powderkeg, but even so it shouldn't have warranted such a nerve-wracking sensation. Kuro felt like he was standing on the edge of a great, bottomless chasm, darkness howling up at him with unfettered rancor, the Earth itself threatening to devour him. For the briefest moment, Kuro's mask flickered, dismay spreading across his features like a pox. He recovered shortly, his mind furiously racing to establish all available options. Taking the anguishing level of anxiety he felt, Kuro immediately considered making headway for the nearest available exit - a window immediately to his left. It had no latch or hinge, but the measure of some broken glass was of little consequence besides the enormity of dread that was hanging over Kuro's thoughts. Other than that, he could approach the table where three of the thugs had taken a seat and question them - that they had not already started a fight was indication that they were hesitant to do so. There was not much chance they didn't know the entire building - and the entire plaza outside - was occupied by Guild members. There was no chance they would risk starting a fight, even if Kuro had gone out of his way to antagonize them. Causing trouble so close to the Epicenter of the Adventurer's guild would be a death sentence. The downside being that, if they were to start trouble, he would be the foremost target of their ire due to proximity alone. Kuro could sit where he was and simply observe, which as ideas went was the one he currently favored. It kept his body out of the firing line of everybody else in the bar, for one thing, and he would be surreptitiously placed to intervene at the moment of his choosing if the event escalated. ...None of those seemed appropriate however. Then, the gears in Kuro's mind clicked. He was thinking too much of himself. Distancing himself too far from the others present in the room. The various bands of the Guild might have found the Riders distasteful, but when there was a common enemy... And besides, he was no longer Cutthroat Kuro, Bandit or Highwayman. He was a member of the Adventurer's Guild, and everyone in the room - bandless or blacklisted or not - were his comrades in arms. Kuro grabbed his mug of water and turned it upside down beneath his table, emptying it. He then got up and casually headed for the bar hold holding it, adding a faint slouch and an exaggerated sway to his motion as he did so, and for once made no effort to reduce his noise as he crossed the room. Hopefully the thugs would simply think him a patron halfway into his cups fetching another drink. As he crossed the room, he looked around for any features that might be of use - and almost instantly his eyes were drawn to the iron candle-fixture suspended directly over the thugs' table. The chain connecting it to the ceiling was too thick for any of his pistols to sever it, but that wouldn't be a problem. Shoving the ever-increasing sensation of apocalyptic portents screaming through his nerves out of his mind, he took a seat next to Eli at the bar. Not his first choice, but approaching the Hawks would have been awkward and the the doctor too obvious. "I'm going to roll a billow canister at them once they start trouble." Kuro muttered to Eli without looking at him. "If you have any spirits that can cut the chain of that fixture above their table at the same time, it will illuminate their forms in the fog on top of the havoc it will wreck with them. Let us shoot at them while providing us cover. They aren't locals or affiliated with the Riders." Kuro sounded completely certain. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but the sense of overarching peril, which had only grown by magnitudes as he had come to sit down at the bar besides Eli, made him sure that the four were going to start something. What else was there nearby that could possibly be causing such a response?

A Sinful Masquerade (A Horror RP)

If I were to make an 'angel' (the City Council tells me angels aren't real) could it align itself with one of the seven heavenly virtues?

@Darcs

There's no rule saying you can't! Although the rules do state that, while in Human form, angels don't get any spectacular powers - they'd have to combat the Sins using mere moral support. I myself am planning on making an Angel character, but even with two I think they'll have their work cut out for them.

The Descent of Man

Read closely guys, its kind of a secret but not really, they were all in the same room with the briefcases in front of them and they all turned the keys. The start of the RP is 2088, bombs fell the real life date I guess lol.

@Marshall

You said earlier the start of the RP was 2042? Also, I agree with TSG that it is...unlikely that diplomats at the United Nations would do that, to say the least. :P I wouldn't be surprised if that was a rumor that was floating around, but ultimately I think what happened was that one nation nuked an adjacent nation under the pretext of preventing the spread of the Reaper Plague - stop refugees from running into their nation and spreading it, which inevitably escalated into a total worldwide nuclear exchange.